Music Streaming Community Comes Together in Support of Ukraine

In the wake of the ongoing war in Ukraine, the music streaming community has wasted no time coming together in support of Ukraine citizens. 

Historically, Twitch is a community of gamers streaming to viewers globally. Although Twitch is still primarily home to this type of community, the platform saw a significant shift in 2020 when the pandemic began. DJs and event organizers turned to streaming to continue reaching the same audiences they’ve been hosting on dancefloors across the globe. And even more remarkable–the fans loved it. In fact, fans loved seeing their favorite artists stream so much that the DJ community on Twitch is thriving in a (hopefully) post-Covid world. 

Twitch DJs aren’t just in it for the party and profits. The ever-growing DJ community on Twitch regularly comes together to organize fundraisers for various charities. Last year, we covered the Vibes For The Tribes Festival. All proceeds went toward Feed Bali, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing basic human essentials to Balinese people suffering from the economic effects of the pandemic. StreamTribe’s very own talent, PSYMILL, participated in the virtual streaming event.

Then, when Russia invaded Ukraine in late February and carried out senseless acts of violence against civilians, the EDM community came together to organize various fundraising streams to benefit the Ukrainian people. This past weekend, Ultra Music Festival launched a live stream fundraiser to support Ukraine youth through the Tabletochki Charity Foundation. Anyone who tuned into the festival’s live stream was encouraged to donate to the cause through GlobalGiving’s donation page.

Tabletochki Charity Foundation has spent the last ten years developing Ukraine’s pediatric oncology field and are applying that expertise toward systematic support of child-specific healthcare and hospital funding.

In early March, Neon Owl, a community focused on bridging the gap between music and philanthropy, started a new charity streaming series to benefit several organizations in Ukraine. “We’re helping those with logistical and medical support through the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which is in urgent need at this very moment,” shares Neon Owl. In just a few days, the community had raised $3200.

More recently, Ukraine-based streamer Leona Stone helped organize another Twitch fundraiser, Music for Ukraine. UK-based DJ and streamer RainbowLacesMusic was also instrumental in the event’s success, as he has been throughout various Twitch-based fundraisers. The original plan was to have the event span over the course of one weekend. However, Rainbow Laces had something bigger and better in mind. “It was a whole week,” he exclaims. “Seven days’ worth of timeslots.” 

Rainbow Laces notes that he was blown away by the magnitude of support and love poured into this cause by the community. Not to mention the urgency so many streamers felt to volunteer their time and talent to Music for Ukraine–filling around 100 slots within a 24 hour period. 

It’s fair to say the event, Music for Ukraine, was an absolute success, as they raised $4500 or £3750 to be donated to the British Red Cross. 

On a much larger scale, at around the same time, Beatport, together with Pioneer DJ and Audius, hosted a livestream fundraiser initiative, ReConnect. Beatport enlisted industry leaders such as Nicole Moudaber and Chris Liebing. For an entire day, twenty-four of the most celebrated artists in the dance music space played music on stream for a global audience. 

As an incentive for viewers to donate, Pioneer DJ, Serato, Native Instruments, RANE, Denon, Numark, and Akai distributed various prizes such as speakers and controllers. All proceeds from the virtual event went toward Choose Love’s Ukraine Crisis Appeal to provide food, shelter, legal assistance, medical care, and other essential services to Ukrainians in need.

Since the early days of COVID-19, these types of fundraisers have been common among the Twitch community during times of crisis. And although live music has returned, in-person gatherings often don’t afford the same fundraising opportunities as Twitch livestreams. 

Rainbow Laces notes another fundraising event he was honored to help organize, Grooves for Gixxer. Toward the end of Gixxergrrl’s battle with stage 4 cancer, friends and fans she’s come to know through Twitch came together to raise nearly $11,000 to support her during her last few weeks of life. 

Like most, Rainbow Laces joined the Twitch community during the start of the pandemic and would’ve never imagined his life taking this direction. “I didn’t expect to be running big online music festivals if you’d spoken to me a couple of years ago.”

Streaming events in support of Ukraine are still going strong as we close out March. Stay tuned for the latest news in music and streaming.